Nine developers presented their designs for Parcel 5 in the Jewelry District to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission on the evening of Sep. 25. With varying designs, retail visions, and missions for the parcel, the Commission will narrow down the pool next time it meets on Oct. 16.
The roughly 1.5-acre lot sits right on the river and is a stone’s throw from the pedestrian bridge at the corner of South Main and Wickenden Streets. It borders the City Walk, and many of the developers referenced the important position of the parcel as a transition between the east and west sides of the city.
In the glass conference room on the second story of 225 Dyer Street in the 195 District, attendees could look out at the vast, undeveloped land where the highway once was — the so-called innovation district. The room was nearly full as each development team pitched their building commission.
Sharon Steele, president of the Jewelry District Association (JDA), said during the public comment portion that she appreciated the “thought-provoking presentations.”
“We think it is important to recognize the history of a place to help define its future,” she said.
Lorenzo Apicella, an architect and a JDA director, shared opinions on behalf of the Association. “The four proposals I will recommend to Sharon and the JDA for closer scrutiny, and which I also recommend to you, the Commission, are crafted elegant, curved courtyards by Transom Real Estate; … the streamlined glass mixed-use layers of BlueDog properties; the inventive and artful Design Center by Ionic Developments; and the two-tiered and finely chiseled, in my opinion, siblings that Urban Spaces, Parent + Diamond joint venture proposed,” he shared.
Assistant Executive Director for Build Rhode Island Anthony Cherry spoke in support of the proposal by BlueDog Capital Partners. “We feel this project fulfills the charge of this commission in building a thriving and diverse district,” he said.
BlueDog is the only one of the nine developers based in Rhode Island. Two of the architecture firms are based out of the Ocean State — ZDS Architecture and Interiors, which is working with BlueDog, and Wade Keating Architects on the Design Center Partners proposal.
Ernesto Belo, the business representative and lead organizer for the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, urged the developers to hire local contractors. “We represent men and women in the trades, and we ask that these developers that are coming in from out of state — and some of you who are national developers — respect our community and hire local tradespeople who earn a living wage,” he said.
“I live about two blocks from the project site. I installed those first sunflower seeds. I tilled that field,” said Michael Scancarello, an engineer and resident. “I used to bring my family to this parcel to play croquet. It’s a spot that we really liked as a community.”
He urged the developers to prioritize the pedestrian-friendly nature of the area over vehicle parking and to “consider all of the rest of the residents that live around here that used to interact with these sites and want to continue to interact with these sites.”
The Commission is accepting written public comment about the projects accepted through Oct. 2, which can be emailed to questions@195district.com.
Here are the details on the nine proposals, in the order they were presented to the Commission.
EQT Exeter
By the Numbers: The design includes 210 residential units, which include 12 “live-work” units and 21 workforce housing units (for those making 83% of the area median income in the city). The proposed building would include 10,000 square ft. of retail space and 110 parking spaces. The building would be six stories high.
Design Overview & The Pitch: CIO and Portfolio Manager Bryan Lamb from EQT Exeter emphasized that they have already developed in the I-195 district with the Emblem 125 project. “We’re going to continue to own it for a long period of time, so we have a vested long-term interest in the district,” he said. Lamb also highlighted that EQT Exeter is a global private equity firm based in London.
EQT Exeter partnered with the architecture firm SCB for their building design. Clara Wineberg, executive director for SCB’s Boston office, described their design as a “gateway moment.”
“Our design vision begins by expanding the connectivity and anchoring the prominent corner on Wickenden and Water,” she said. “It can lend itself to creating a really monumental architectural statement that signifies entry into the neighborhood, but also the success of the district.”
Transom
By the Numbers: Transom’s curved design would include 220 apartments and five landscaped Courtyards. The building would be six stories high. The design also includes 11,500 sq ft of retail, which they proposed be filled by fitness centers, restaurants, and other businesses. Apicella recommended this proposal on behalf of the JDA.
Design Overview & The Pitch: Peter Spellios with Transom Real Estate presented on behalf of the firm, emphasizing that they (and architecture firm Höweler + Yoon) have experience “straddling neighborhoods” and engaging with the public to create structures in or near historic districts in Boston.
“We think buildings are public art,” Spellios said. “They should be viewed as public art. They should be judged as public art, and you should expect nothing less.”
With the curvature of the building, architect Eric Höweler noted that from the street, the structure would look like three consecutive buildings from the street level rather than one big mass.
“It’s a unique typology. Sort of holds the block while receding from the block,” he said. “So we think it’s a pretty interesting technology that participates in an urban fabric, not as an object, but as a kind of background building, something that can be both a protagonist and a kind of backdrop.”
Both the architecture firm and developer are based out of Boston.
CranLake LLC
By the Numbers: This proposal would include 201 residential units, with 10 of those units being workforce housing. The design includes 11,700 square ft. of retail space and 118 parking spaces. The building would include six stories.
Design Overview & The Pitch: John Matteson, founding partner for Matteson Companies, discussed the firm’s experience working in historic areas and collaborations with the city of Boston and other national developers. Matteson Companies is based out of Boston.
Aeron Hodges, a Boston-based design principal for the global architecture firm Stantec, said they wanted the design to be inspired by Providence’s industrial past. Hodges explained that the two structures in the design are meant to evoke a wharf building and a shipping vessel.
“We want to channel that and bring that into our project,” she said. “This motion of these two parties coming together signifies the shipping vessel leaving port.”
BlueDog
By the Numbers: This proposal included three different uses: condos, a hotel, and retail space. The breakdown is: 41,700 sq ft for commercial space, 57,600 sq ft for the hotel, and 40,700 sq ft for condominiums on the top floors. There would be 47,100 square ft of underground parking and the entire building would be six stories. Apicella recommended this proposal on behalf of the JDA.
Design Overview & The Pitch: Richard Tasca, CEO of BlueDog Capital Partners, stressed that as a local developer, they know the community well, though they have not yet built in the I-195 district. He noted that the location of the parcel was important as a transition between the east and west sides of the city.
Eric Zuena from the Providence-based ZDS Architecture and Interiors explained how the design of the building was meant to be a natural extension of the pedestrian bridge, complementing the pre-existing built environment.
Zuena said that the bridge has had “probably one of the biggest impacts we’ve had in the city, and it certainly has triggered a lot of thought and creativity and development. This is a big piece of inspiration for us.” He explained that inspiration comes through with “the idea of its fluid motion, its forward thought relative to planning, [and] its organic shape.”
Design Center Partners
By the Numbers: The design includes 200 residential units, with 10 designated as creative workforce housing. There would be over 70 underground parking spots and 15,000 sq ft of public open space in addition to 50,000 sq ft of flexible retail options, according to the proposal. The structure would have five stories. Apicella recommended this proposal on behalf of the JDA.
Design Overview & The Pitch: The Boston-based Ionic Development Co. and Providence-based Wade Keating Architects collaborated on the proposal to make Parcel 5 a center for design, creatives, and artists.
“This is about more than just a building. This is about an idea, and our idea is to create an art and design nexus for the city of Providence,” said Kaitlin McCarthy, founder and CEO of Ionic. She explained that the project would feature gallery space and ample pedestrian access through the parcel, with the tall house-inspired structures of the building nodding to the contextual architecture of Fox Point.
“We imagine creating plantings and natural elements that will really make this a nice place to work and a nice place to live,” architect Andrew Wade Keating said. “So there are a number of sustainability and resilience features that drive the project.”
The Parcel 5 JV
By the Numbers: This project would entail 104 units of residential space — which would be owned, not rentals — and 8,000 sq. ft of retail. There would be 75 underground parking spaces to service the two buildings. Both buildings appear to have five stories. Apicella recommended this proposal on behalf of the JDA.
Design Overview & The Pitch: Ralph Parent, partner at Parent + Diamond Real Estate Development, noted that this was the firm’s third time presenting to the Commission — and that they had internalized the feedback from previous pitches. Both the developer and architecture firm are Boston-based.
Parent and Elizabeth Whittaker, an architect and the founder and principal of Merge, emphasized that they did not want to build a structure that was just an enormous wall at street level. She emphasized that they wanted the design to be permeable to pedestrian traffic, which they plan to accomplish by constructing two less-dense buildings, as opposed to one massive structure.
“We are proposing homeownership, not rentals,” Whittaker explained. “But the big move is we did not want to build a wall. And I’ll be honest, if the Commission wants a wall, this is not the project.”
Cabot, Cabot & Forbes
By the Numbers: This proposal entails 259 residential units, 81 parking spots, and 7800 sq ft of retail. The design would also strive for Leed Silver certification and completion on a 44-month timeline, according to the pitch deck. The building would include six stories.
Design Overview & The Pitch: Matt D’Amico, development manager for Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, said that the firm is “one of the oldest real estate developers, continuously operating” in America, and that the Boston-based company has developed “over 100 million square feet of real estate in the United States.”
SGA, a Boston and New York City architecture firm, designed the proposed building. Walker Shanklin, Director of Architecture for SGA noted that the parcel is a transition between neighborhoods and that the design seeks to nod to masonry-style buildings. “We’ve got these really nice, wide-open terraces along the south, starting towards the commons Riverwalk,” he said, adding that they were focused on pedestrian access and engaging retail.
Greylock
By the Numbers: The Greylock proposal entails 13,100 sq. ft of retail, 128 parking spaces, and 160 residential units. The two buildings would each have six stories.
Design Overview & The Pitch: Ken Navarro, Chief Development Officer for the Greylock Property Group, discussed some of the firm’s previous mixed-use projects. “I think [with] our experience in many years in both retail and residential… we have a little bit of a unique understanding.”
The firm is based out of Connecticut and largely focuses on New England.
John Selle, associate principal with Phase Zero Design, said they hope to “create some urban fabric here that continues the development from Parcel 2 over to Parcel 6, but we wanted to do that in a strategic way that was respectful of the surrounding communities.” He described the design as pedestrian-friendly and that ground floor retail and amenities could “activate the full perimeter of the parcel.”
Toll Brothers
By the Numbers: The Toll Brothers proposal includes 227 residential units. There would additionally be 130 parking spaces and 11,650 sq ft of retail. The building includes six floors.
Design Overview & The Pitch: Closing out the night, the national developer Toll Brothers presented its design.
Will Adams, New England regional director of acquisitions and development for Toll Brothers Apartment Living, mentioned that Toll Brothers is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 company that has invested billions of dollars into real estate development.
Cube3, headquartered in Massachusetts, was the architecture firm behind the proposed structure. Architect Evan Staton said that as a Rhode Island native, he understood the importance of parking. He additionally discussed how “we tried to break up the massing using three towers, and those towers create residential courtyards within.”
Next Steps for Parcel 5
At its October meeting, the Commission will select finalists from the nine developers to present their proposals again. From there, public input, design review, and revisions will take place prior to the Commission voting on the final design and developer.
The Commission also presented the goals in their introduction to Parcel 5:
- Minimum building height: 2 stories
- Maximum building height: 6 stories
- Proposals are encouraged to provide permeability through the parcel to provide pedestrian access to the east side of 195 District Park and the Providence River
- Proposals should consider the adjacency to City Walk and the strong pedestrian and bicycle desire line to and from the Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge when planning the uses and design of the ground floor
- Proposals should be designed to complement the historic context
See each of the proposals and the recording of the Sept. 25 meeting on the 195 District’s website.
By Katy Pickens / Planning and Preservation Writer / kpickens@ppsri.org